City officials announced 287 new cases Wednesday. Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley warned that the number may be artificially low because lab results have been coming in slowly.
The number of new deaths took a big jump — to 60 — after days of very low numbers, as labs caught up with a backlog.
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The city has reached nearly 16,700 confirmed cases in all, with more than 800 deaths.
“Overall, still, if you look at our deaths per day, the trend is downward in parallel with the epidemic, and that’s a good thing,” Farley said.
But, he noted, it is not yet time to lift stay-at-home restrictions.
“I’m getting an awful lot of questions about reopening Philadelphia,” he said. “I can’t say because I can’t predict the future.
“The virus has more surprises in store for us,” he continued.
He said the virus is finding new populations to infect across the country, and it could do so here.
“There are parts of the country where the number of cases are rising. What’s happened there is the virus has found a new population. It was declining in one population and it found a new set. So we can’t guarantee it has found all the populations it’s going to find, even in Philadelphia,” he explained. “That’s why we have to watch this every day.”
Mayor Jim Kenney has also been faced with an onslaught of reopening questions. He said he won’t be swayed by protesters either, who intend to rally Friday at City Hall and push for a reopening.
“We are not going to sacrifice people’s lives,” he said.
The mayor acknowledged the economic pain of the shutdown. He particularly noted losses in the hospitality industry, as the Convention and Visitors Bureau released its annual report showing a record $1 billion economic impact from overseas visitors last year — a figure sure to plunge this year.
In 2019, Phildadelphia had 76,700 hospitality-related jobs, according to the report, making it one of the city’s largest employment sectors.
And, according to a report by Visit Philadelphia, the region welcomed a record 45 million visitors in 2018, generating $12.2 billion in economic impact.
The coronavirus has certainly depreciated those numbers for 2020.
“I am confident that our tourism industry is strong and resilient,” countered Kenney. “I know they are working hard to make sure that when we can welcome visitors back. Philadelphia will be ready.”